


For the Rest of Our Lives

by NamelesslyNightlock



Series: Going Down Swinging [30]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (it just isn't beating anymore), Blood Drinking, Curses, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Protective Loki (Marvel), Romantic Fluff, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Vampire Tony Stark, Worried Loki (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 07:57:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21267677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: When Loki learns that Tony has been turned into a vampire, his immediate response is to start thinking of a way to turn him back.





	For the Rest of Our Lives

**Author's Note:**

  * For [STARSdidathing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/gifts).

> I still find it hilarious that this fic, which I wrote in April, ended up being posted the day after Halloween xD the universe aligning correctly for once, I suppose.  
  
Also, thank you **STARSdidathing** for the idea!  
  
**Prompt**— _“Is that blood?”_

When Loki returned back home after a visit to one of the other realms, it was to find the lights dark and the rooms quiet. It was unusual, because Anthony knew that Loki had planned on returning that day and at that time, and he had promised to be in the penthouse. And, even more worryingly– it was just gone midday, and yet there was no sunlight coming through the windows. The glass was all blacked out, tinted as dark as JARVIS could possibly make them, and the only reason Loki could think of for why that could be was that Anthony was currently dealing with some kind of threat, and was worried about security.

“JARVIS?” Loki asked quietly, his fingers already twitching for one of his daggers.

“Mr Stark is in the kitchen, Sir,” JARVIS said. “He will return in a moment. I have already informed him of—”

Loki didn’t stay for the rest of the sentence. He simply gathered his seiðr and pulled himself toward the common floor– toward his partner, not wanting to spend another moment _waiting_ when something was quite clearly very wrong.

He did _not_ expect for Anthony to be standing at the kitchen counter, a variety of cups and glasses and other vessels sitting on the surface in front of him. Anthony was considering them all curiously, which was a little strange alone– but what made the picture even more _concerning_ was the clear plastic pouch he held in his hand, which was full and sloshing with an easily recognised red liquid.

“Anthony,” Loki asked, his worries of an impending attack morphing into something else entirely. “Is that _blood?_”

“It’s okay Lokes,” Anthony said quickly. “It’s fine, I got it from a blood bank. And it’s old, about to reach the end of its shelf life. I haven’t hurt _anyone_.”

And…

_Oh._

And Anthony had sounded so proud as he spoke, his eyes blazing with such delight that Loki almost would go so far as to call it naïve. Yet, it _wasn’t_, because Anthony was both incredibly intelligent and all too aware of the dangers that lurked in the shadows of his world– and if even with just this momentary glimpse, Loki had already put together the pieces… then he had very little doubt that Anthony remained unaware of what he was.

The cups, the blood, the windows– it all made terribly perfect sense. And as Loki’s eyes adjusted better to the dark lighting, he noticed some other changes that he had not seen at first. Anthony’s usually tanned skin had paled some, not more than a few shades but as if he had suffered a recent wound or needed to see a little more sunlight. His eyes were gleaming almost too brightly, the wrinkles on his face had smoothed, the silver that had begun to creep into his goatee and hairline burnished back to its earlier dark brown. Anthony didn’t particularly look younger, nor did he really look any _different_– it was just as if every cell in his body had been refreshed to brand-new.

“Oh, Anthony,” Loki whispered, stepping around the counter so that he could stand closer, wanting to reach out but unsure of how it would be received. “How did this happen?”

“I was with the Avengers,” Anthony said, not hesitating to offer the answer, easily sharing everything with Loki just like always. “We were fighting some kind of witch, and I told her that after we caught her, she was never going to see the light of day again– to which she said that no, _I_ was the one who would never see the light of day, and I thought it was just the worst comeback ever except then she managed to nail me with a spell, and when I woke up, I was like _this.”_ Anthony finished his explanation with a wavy kind of hand gesture, and Loki found that the words were comforting in their familiar rambling tone. It reassured Loki that Anthony was still _himself_ even as what they meant sent a curl of horror through Loki’s gut.

“And you… you understand what ‘this’ is?” Loki whispered tentatively, still sure that Anthony must have worked it out – he had, after all, just been about to drink from a blood bag – but he still wished to tread cautiously.

“Come on, Loki,” Anthony replied, actually rolling his eyes. “I know what a vampire is. And dear god, please don’t do the ‘I know what you are’ line, Clint’s already done it four times and there’s only so much a guy can take.”

Loki’s breath left him in a rush. “But you were not _bitten_ by a vampire?” Loki asked, a touch of desperation lacing his tone. “You didn’t drink _their_ blood?”

“No,” Anthony said, starting to frown now. “I told you, it’s—”

“If you were turned by a witch, rather than by another vampire, then there is still a chance,” Loki told him fiercely. “Anthony, _tell me_. Have you consumed any blood yet?”

“No,” Anthony said firmly. “This only happened this morning, I mean… Steve went out to fetch me the blood. Then the others all left to give me some privacy, since I knew you were coming anyway.” He took a step closer, the blood still held in his left hand as he raised his right to cup Loki’s cheek. “Loki, are you okay?”

Anthony’s hand felt too cold, but Loki leaned into the touch anyway. He knew that he was shaking, that he wasn’t quite holding it together, because… Anthony was a _vampire_. He had been turned into another creature against his will, he had lost his days in sunlight, his beating heart, the very _humanity_ that Loki knew Anthony had held so very dear. And… as if that were not enough, this had happened only this morning, while Loki had been away. Perhaps if he had been back sooner, if only he could have _been_ _there_, then maybe… maybe Anthony would still have his life.

Loki knew it was ridiculous to believe that this was his fault, but it was another thing entirely to know that he could have _stopped_ it.

But that… didn’t mean that this was it, that this was the end.

“Lokes?” Anthony prompted gently, _worriedly_, as if in this situation it was _Loki_ who needed comforting.

“No,” Loki finally admitted. “I am not.”

Anthony stepped closer still, his thumb still stroking Loki’s cheek, his chin tilted up a little so that he could meet Loki’s gaze. Yet before he could speak, Loki was continuing.

“It does not matter,” Loki said firmly. “I’m not okay, but I _will_ be– because _you_ will be. I can fix this.”

Anthony’s hand stilled. “What do you mean, _fix?”_ he asked.

“You were turned by a curse, not a bite,” Loki explained, speaking faster through to the end of the sentence. “That means I can reverse it, at least up until the moment that you drink your first drop of blood. But before then, I can remove the curse, I can heal you, I can make you a human once again.”

“Oh,” Anthony said, his hand falling back to his side. He chewed on his lip for a moment, and Loki held his breath until– “What if I don’t want you to?”

“What?” Loki asked. “What do you mean? I can _remove the curse—_”

“Don’t think of this as if it’s a curse. Because I’m not,” Anthony said, his voice soft but firm. “I’m not naïve, I know what this means, and I know that it’s going to be hard. But… don’t you think that maybe it could be a good thing, as well?”

“How could this be a good thing? Anthony, you’ve been turned into something that you’re not supposed to be—”

“Maybe, but I didn’t really like the way that things were supposed to be. I mean… Loki, you know that we were always heading toward a tragedy.” Anthony’s smile was as sad as his words, but there was something hopeful along the edge of it that gave Loki something to hold on to, something to wonder about. “You are a god, and I… I’m not, and I never will be. I was happy being a human, don’t get me wrong, but I only had a few more decades left in me. Loki, you still have centuries, you still have _millennia_.” Anthony was stroking Loki’s cheek again, and Loki leaned closer with a slight tilt of his head, his eyes wide. “I would have grown old and slow and you still would be as young as you are today, and while I would have lived every precious year with you in happiness it would have ended in tears. But don’t you see? Now, I can be with you forever, and as far as I’m concerned? If it means we can have that, then losing a bit of sunlight is a price worth paying.”

They were close enough that all Loki had to do was lean down an inch to press their lips together. He held Anthony as close as he could and kissed him with all the emotion he knew, with every ounce of feeling he held in that moment. He kissed like he could restart Anthony’s heart with just his kiss alone, though oddly… he realised that he no longer wanted to.

Something had shifted, something small and yet monumental all at once. Because yes, Anthony _was_ a vampire– but he was still _Anthony_, and between the two of them, wasn’t that all that mattered in the long run?

And as they parted, their foreheads resting together while they fought to catch their breath, Anthony voiced a whispered question.

“Do you think that I’m a monster, now?”

“Anthony,” Loki replied. “You know that I never could.”

“Then… what’s the problem?”

Loki let out a laugh, a soft thing that was hardly more than a gush of air and yet awfully delighted all the same. He leaned back just enough to meet Anthony’s gaze properly, and his voice was flushed with wonder as he asked, “You’re really going to stay with me forever?”

“Well, as soon as you let me drink this I will be,” Anthony teased lightly, raising the blood bag. It seemed that he had decided to forgo the cups after all– realising the impracticalities or, perhaps just feeling impatient. And Loki could have made a joke there – he had the perfect opening, the chance to make the amused grin he loved paint Anthony’s lips – but instead, he reached out and put his hand over the bag, preventing Anthony from opening it.

“No,” Loki said.

For a moment, Anthony’s eyes flashed with hurt. “I thought—”

“I know enough about vampires to know that you will not want to drink that,” Loki interrupted. “You said that it has nearly reached its… shelf life?”

“Yes,” Anthony confirmed, arching a brow, the hurt giving way to confusion.

“Then that means it’s old,” Loki said. Gently, he tugged the bag from Anthony’s hands and placed it on the counter, then reached up to brush his fingers along the line of Anthony’s jaw. “Perhaps… there is a better option.”

When Anthony’s brows pulled slightly together, Loki held Anthony’s gaze and tilted his head to the side– a movement that could have been innocent, but given the context it would be entirely unmistakable.

“Loki,” Anthony breathed, his eyes widening. “Are you offering…”

Loki probably should have felt nervous– after all, he had never done this before, had never met a vampire as anything other than an enemy. But this was _Anthony_, and so there was no hesitation in his voice as he said– “If we’re going to start this life together, then let’s do it _together_.”

“What if I hurt you?” Anthony asked, though his eyes were already darkening, his whole body already leaning toward Loki. “What if—”

“You won’t,” Loki promised. “You want to be a vampire, Anthony? Then come here, and make me _yours_ for the rest of our long lives.”

Loki could feel Anthony’s desire in the way that he licked at Loki’s neck at first, the way that fingers buried in Loki’s hair as the other hand slid around his waist to the small of his back, pressing their bodies flush together.

“You’re sure?” Anthony asked.

“More than anything,” Loki vowed. “Are you?”

The answer came in the form of Anthony’s new fangs sinking into Loki’s neck, and then he began to drink with a shuddered moan, sealing not only his transformation– but also their future, and centuries of being together that were yet to come.


End file.
